The dream of giving startup companies an easy way to connect with everyday investors – similar to multinationals on the New York Stock Exchange – is creeping closer to reality, according to Wilmington's government-funded stock exchange.

The Delaware Board of Trade, or DBOT, announced on Thursday the launch of a platform that company officials say will provide a "frictionless" way for cash-hungry startups to raise money.

"Historically, investing in a crowd-funded, early-stage company meant holding the security for a long amount of time because of the inherent lack of liquidity in those securities and the difficulty in transferring ownership," DBOT company officials said in a statement on Thursday.

DBOT's trading system will provide that liquidity, company officials say, as "Investors can browse new deals on the website, request access to a deal and then fund an account either with cryptocurrencies or cash to pledge an investment."

Crowdfunding through DBOT is possible today because of the landmark federal finance law, the USA JOBS Act. While it was passed by Congress in 2012, its crowdfunding rules weren't administratively ironed out until 2016.

Since then, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission only has licensed the Delaware Board of Trade as the only Alternative Trading System to use Blockchain technology, according to DBOT.

“The system being blockchain based signifies the start of the fusion of traditional and decentralized markets in a regulated entity, where securitized tokens become a reality for secondary trading," DBOT board member Shawn Sloves said in a statement Thursday.

DBOT is capitalizing on Blockchain's surge of excitement – and speculative investment – because New Castle County government in 2015 agreed to loan $3 million to the startup exchange.

It was unusual, and controversial move, because governments typically provide financial incentives to less risky established companies.

The deal calls for DBOT to make 6 percent interest-only payments of $180,000 per year for five years. By contrast, the S&P 500 has returned about 17 percent annually to shareholders since January 2016.

When given the loan, DBOT founders told New Castle County councilmembers that eventually it would build up a workforce of about 100 employees. In December, the company had “more than 20” employees, split between an office in New York and its headquarters at the Hercules Building in Wilmington, Sloves said.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.